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100 Reasons Why I Kissed Halloween Conspiracy Theories Goodbye

I really don’t like Halloween that much. It’s just not a big deal. I don’t want to write blogs about it. I don’t want to think about it. If my neighbors kids come to my house, I smile, be kind, courteous, give them some candy, and show them some neighborly love. If my work party has some Halloween treats, I might grab one, and that’s about it. My involvement is tiny. I really don’t care about Halloween.

What I do care about is what Christians believe and say. Throughout my life, I have often been an apologist to my secular and nonbelieving friends, trying to draw them into the church. And most of the time, it’s you silly Christians that make it nearly impossible. By believing and saying ridiculous things, you present Christianity as a faith of historic and logical ignorance. More often than not, many of you teach nonbelievers that Christianity is just one huge conspiracy theory.

And this is especially true on Halloween.

I hate to have to write about Halloween, but as I open up my Facebook feed and see historically erroneous conspiracy theories being touted as Gospel truth, it really bugs me. I keep hoping my unbelieving friends won’t see this. This makes things even harder. I don’t only need to convince them there is a reason to this world, and faith will draw us near to it, I also have to explain to them why they should join the same Christianity that claims little-Halloween-celebrating grandmothers are actually secretive Satanists. And my unbelieving friends know these “Satanists”, for to them, they are their very nice Catholic grandmothers, who try to bring them into the Catholic church. One of my friends left the faith precisely because of this harmonious disunity, in which every side considers the other worse than Satan himself.

The point is what many Christians teach about Halloween is a toxic mixture of false facts, incorrect history, out of context Bible verses, fear, and conspiracy theory. It stinks! That said, I want to post a response to that article. You know which one. You have seen it in your Facebook feed at least a hundred times now. Here is my response to the 10 Reasons I Kissed Halloween Goodbye.

I will try to give 10 reasons why every 1 of Blake’s “reasons” are silly. Where she makes attempted factual statements, I provide far better historical and sociological data. Where she provides illogical rhetoric and moralizing, she receives a well-deserved satirical response. With no more ado, here are 100 Reasons why I kissed that article, and other conspiracy theories goodbye.

Regarding “Halloween glorifies evil, not God.”

1. Halloween is not a satanic holiday, that’s a historically ignorant statement, based on feelings not fact. Halloween is a Catholic Irish/Scottish holiday. The term ‘Satanism’ was not even around during the time the word ‘Halloween’ was termed. (1)

2. Halloween is not a pagan holiday. It is not Samhain. There is intense scholarly debate amongst historians as to whether the two are even connected at all. Many historians don’t believe Halloween is connected to any pagan holiday at all. But even if they are connected, Halloween would turn out to be a Christian remaking of the holiday in the same way Easter and Christmas replaced thematic pagan holidays. We don’t claim Christmas is still the pagan Yule which it replaced! We don’t claim Easter is still the worship of Eostre! Unless Mrs. Blake does? (2, 3, 4)

3. Halloween, as we know it, is a secular holiday that is devoid of all religion. There are no rituals or ceremonies and no point to add religious mythology and ideology into it. To claim these things shows a deep cultural ignorance. (4)

4. “It’s no secret that Halloween is all about… fear and death.” There is a great deal of fear and death in the Bible. See verses like Gen 6:7, Deut 13:15, Deut 28:22, Deut 28:25-26, Deut 28:28, Lev 20:9, Isaiah 13:16. The Bible seems to be have these themes of fear and death. According to the your logic, Mrs. Blake, does that mean that the Bible equals Halloween?

5.“blood and dead bodies and axe murderers… skeletons… and gravestones.. Can anyone deny that this holiday glorifies Satan and every evil thing?” Again, the Bible is filled more violence than Halloween can ever hope to portray. See Exodus 32:27, Deut 7:2, Deut 20:16, Deut 21:10-12, Deut 21:21, Deut 25:12, Num 31:17-18, Judges 21:10-11, Hosea 13:16, Ezekiel 9:6. According to this logic, the Bible glorifies Satan. Is that what Mr.’s. Blake intends, I certainly hope not.

6. What is the “meaning” of Halloween? Blake says “sugarcoating the evil with smiling pumpkins.. [doesn’t change the evil] meaning of the celebration. Okay. Ask the kids who come to your house about the meaning, will they say “yes we are here to worship Satan, all hail Satan!” No! They want candy and fun, that’s their meaning, let’s not ascribe Satan worship to a bunch of sugar craving children.

7. “the holiday itself glorified evil” No, it did not. This is a unhistorical and anachronistic assumption on the part of many Christians who try to connect Samhain to Halloween. Most historians disagree with this urban legend. The ancient Samhain of the Celts, and the contemporary consumerist secular holiday called Halloween are almost 1500 years apart and share no direct traditions. (5)

8. “Most of us know that Halloween is one of the highest, most holy days for witches and Satanists” Whaat? How does this allegation prove anything? First, “witches and Satanists” if they exists are deluded people. Second, this is not common knowledge but superstition and fable. Third, it’s almost certainly not true as legitimate anti-cult organizations report that all the researched tales about satanic abuse have been proven to be the result of mentally ill people projecting myths, not the result of real satanic cults (6)

9. “Abstain from the appearance of Evil” (1 Thess 5:21-22). If we put aside our Dante for a minute and look at the Bible, what does Satan, the most evil being of all, look like? Well, the Bible says he is appears as an “angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14) and that he is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). So when Blake spreads forth outright lies about history, but comes with the appearance of the light, what does that mean?

10. Is fear equal to Satanism? That most certainly cannot be true, for if it is, a great deal of “fire and brimstone” preachers are secret Satanists. I wholeheartedly don’t like fear. But I will say I have found a great deal more fear in the sermons recounting stories and visions of those who supposedly visited hell, than on any Halloween. I agree with the out of context citation of 2 Timothy 1:7, and think that is why Christians should not be afraid of Halloween.

Regarding “If the seed is bad, the fruit will be bad.”

11. Blakes starts by saying “Halloween has never been a Christian holiday.” This isn’t merely silly, but also not true. The word Halloween is etymologically derived from All Hallows Eve, or All Saints Eve. It has always been an evening to honor Catholic saints. (7)

12. She also says that “The foundations of Halloween are occultic.. [and]pagan.” This is also not factual. Most of the symbols were created within a Catholic medieval culture. Any student of history knows this period was filled with dark imagery of such as Dante’s Inferno. How could Halloween be aoccultic/pagan holiday, celebrated by witches, in an era where Catholics burned witches? Yes, it was a time of superstitions, but they were Catholic superstitions, not pagan. (8)

13. Blake argues that Halloween is derived from October celebrations of the Druids. Again, there is real debate between real historians about whether Halloween really has any connection to Samhain. It’s unscholarly and unwise to argue her main point from something leading historians disagree about. In addition it also misses the complexity of the cultural evolution of holidays. Just as Christmas is no longer Yule, even though that is its origin pagan holiday, so too Halloween is not Samhain. (9, 10, 11)

14. “the first Christians came to America, they knew of Halloween’s occult beginnings and banned its celebration.” Another silly and irrelevant argument. The early Puritans were strongly against anything Catholic, and would never celebrate a holiday honoring Catholic saints. Furthermore, these same Puritans also banned the celebration of Christmas! Is Christmas also therefore an occult holiday? Well, let’s hear it? Where is the consistency? (12, 13)

15. There is a citation to a very sentimental blog by a “homeschooling mom” that claims Germans brought witchcraft into Halloween (neglecting the fact that Germany was a Lutheran country with judicial punishment for witchcraft) and claims that Haitians brought Voodoo into Halloween tradition, ignoring the fact that early American culture was predominantly Christian and conducted many witch burnings. There are absolutely zero historical references to the German/Haitian connection on this moms blog, just a blank, and undocumented, statement. Yet is plenty of proof the early American and Germans burned witches. Historians or homeschooling moms? Where do you get your info from? You decide. (14)

16. There is a citation from Deut 18:9-11 about sorcery and customs. Blake attempts to equivocate this with Halloween. This is ridiculous. The verse deals with worshiping idols and sacrificing children. Please find me one child that was sacrificed on Halloween? (Aha you will say, they are secretly lost and we cannot find them, that’s the point. To which I’d reply “my point exactly”). Please tell me one pagan god that is celebrated on Halloween?

17. Blake argues that putting Christian labels on pagan practices don’t make them pleasing to God. For the third time, she makes this false connection, ignorant of the real history of Halloween, as well as the historic fact that many common “Christian” ideas were indeed influenced by pagan ideas. This is documented by numerous historians, both secular and sacred. (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)

18.Next is Deut 12:1-4. This passage is taken completely out of context and deals with destroying altars to false gods and idols. I politely ask, does anyone truly worship pagan deities at their altars on Halloween? Is there even a Halloween altar or sacred pillar? It seems senseless to equivocate a secular holiday to real pagan worship practices. Unless Blake can produce a Halloween altar.

19. She argues that God wants us to elevate him alone. I agree, this is what the Bible teaches. However, does she really imply that celebrating Halloween means people cease elevating God? Why? Who worships Halloween instead or above God? Do these people also worship Memorial day above God simply by taking a day off? Why or why not? This is a silly logical fallacy.

20. “Any other practice is sin and eventually bears bad fruit.” I know hundreds of famous preachers that grew up celebrating Halloween and still do. One of these is the internationally known John Piper. Please, Mrs. Blake, do show us John Piper’s bad occultist fruit? Is his church really a secret outpost for child sacrifice? Do they have cauldrons in the basement? (20)

Regarding “Don’t dine with demons”

21. “People traditionally set a spot for the dead at their table, inviting them in… it’s okay to dine with demons” What?! Where did you get that? What does that prove? Yes, some historians say Samhain included leaving a plate our in honor of dead ancestors (this is practiced by neo-pagan Celtic Reconstructionists today), but where do demons come in? Is Blake seriously arguing that dead ancestors are demons? So my grandfather who passed away, is now a demon? (21)

22. These celebrations are certainly not Halloween. The neo-pagans who celebrate Samhain, in order to be historically accurate, “celebrate Samhain on the date of first frost” not necessarily on October 31st. Why in the world do these neo-pagans choose a different date and a different name for their holiday if it’s really Halloween? (21)

23. Blake asserts that “Guising” is dining with demons. Yes, “guising” was a medieval superstition, there is no debate about that. However, it is a Catholic superstition, not an ancient pagan superstition. Blake is totally ignorant of the simple historic fact the whole point of this silly medieval Catholic superstitious of “guising” was to ward off evil spirits, not to invite them in for dinner. Superstitious medieval Christian’s did other superstitious things, like hang garlic to protect against vampires, can we argue that hanging garlic is inviting in demons? No, it’s merely a silly superstition. (22)

24. Blake introduces 1 Cor 10:21 and rips the text out of context. Yes, the passage does speak about Christians refusing to worship other gods while they worship God. However, that same passage concludes by allowing Christians to eat foods sacrificed to idols, arguing that even if one person does an action to worship an idol, and a Christian does the same action to God, he is free to do so. Turns out this chapter, as a whole, actually supports Christian liberty to celebrate Halloween, as long as it’s not unto Satan (1 Cor 10:25-30)

25. Furthermore, 1 Cor 10:21 specifically refers to those who willingly and knowingly serve and worship idols and pagan gods. I would wager that Blake and everyone else will be hard pressed to find even one Christian who willingly and knowingly serves specific pagan gods. This passage is therefore useless in the context of this secular holiday. However, it is useful in showing the extent of Christian liberty does allow Halloween celebrations.

26. “Sharing food with someone represents a sacred connection” In the Ancient Near East culture, certainly. However, the fact that I just had lunch with a coworker doesn’t mean I have a sacred connection. We are no longer in the Ancient Near East. In any sense, who shares a meal on Halloween? Do Druids show up and eat from my plates? No. Does Satan show up for pizza? No. A bunch of neighboring kids show up for candy, which is hardly a meal, that’s it.

27. “Satan is the world’s greatest counterfeiter, so he tempts us to sit at his table and join his feast.” Blake makes many rhetorically pointed statements, however, does almost nothing to prove these statements. She assumes they are true, and hopes her readers will as well. I’m sorry speculation is not evidence. Convince me, I am open and waiting.

28. Blake stated that Satan makes Halloween “as attractive as he can.” Oh really? Did she not just tell us that Halloween is evil, because it is so obviously unattractive? Did she not say that its“all about witches and ghosts and fear and death. Haunted houses, Hollywood movies, even neighborhood patios are graced with blood and dead bodies and axe murderers …” Is she saying all of that is now attractive to her? Which one is it? Is Halloween all dark and scary or is it attractive? You can’t have both. (23)
29. “[Satan] knows we won’t say no if his festival looks like pure evil, so he’s let us create our own G-rated version that we aren’t as likely to resist.” Here she contradicts herself again. Earlier on in the article, she argued that Halloween is evil, because everyone can clearly see its evil (a circular argument, by the way). Again, she changes her mind, and says the reason it doesn’t appear evil, is because Satan is tricking us on purpose. It seems Blake is willing to invent any explanation for any evidence presented, provided it fits with her preconceived feelings.

30. Finally we see 2 Cor 6:14-16, which is (surprise!) out of context for this discussion. Blake uses the Bible passage most commonly used to warn Christians to avoid marrying nonbelievers. However, in 2 Cor 6:15, there is a specific mention of the Greek name Belial, which is used as a reference to Satan. (24) Paul is saying Christians should not merge with those who worship Satan. By this Blake implies that everyone who celebrates Halloween worships Satan and we should not join. Is this true? Do trick-or-treaters worship Satan? Does Billy Graham who celebrates Halloween worship Satan? No! This is a ridiculous accusation not grounded in reality. (25)

Regarding “Halloween is an excuse to flaunt sexuality.”

31. “Sometimes I think it’s real name is “Dress Like a Porn Star” This is tragic, and I would argue gives Christians even more reason to be a positive influential force in Halloween. If there is filth on the internet, should Christians pull the plug, or put positive content out there?

32. “There seems to be an unwritten competition to have the raciest costume” Again, in some spectrums of society, though by far not all, this does occur and it is a tragic example of our sexist society. Yet, this is seen in every aspect of culture, not just Halloween. And again this gives Christians even more reason to be a positive influential force in Halloween.

33. Ephesians 5:3-8 is included in this point. And all of it is true. And all of it applies to hundreds of other things besides Halloween. If we follow Blakes logic we can outlaw… why literally everything! “Television helps sexual immorality.” Boom, outlaw the telly. “High school social interactions inflame sexual immorality” Boom, no more high school. And on and on.

34. “I can vouch from personal experience that when we put on a costume, we often detach ourselves, sometimes ever so slightly, from our inhibitions” One person’s personal experience, does not prove anything. “it is much easier to act a tad bit naughty when our real identity is hidden.” Perhaps. Then again, perhaps that only exposes a much deeper problem on the inside. Perhaps we ought to work on the deeper problem than a silly manifestation?

35. “almost as if bad behavior is somehow excused when we are in costume” Again, if someone is doing something bad, and finds his or her costume as an excuse, we ought not blame the costume, but deal with the person and their motivations. This is like blaming a fist for punching another person, and trying to outlaw fists, rather than dealing with the motives of him who used the fist.

36. “it’s much easier to explain in the morning: “I wasn’t actually sinning; I was just staying in character” This is anonrealistic rhetorical argument and adds nothing to the real world. It is so illogical, that I would say any Christian who sins, and uses that as an excuse has far greater problems than Halloween costumes. This is like someone saying “the devil made me do it” and Christians writing a new rule to outlaw “the devil” in response, instead of dealing with the person holistically.
37. “we prefer to emulate… unfruitful works of darkness…” Again, it is tragic that some people do things like this. It grieves me to see the oversexualization of girls and women in our society. Yet, this is not a Halloween thing, for this was never a historic part of Halloween, but it is a historic part of Western culture. Let’s deal with the real culprit, the rich white men who own the media. For example, the most “conservative Christian channel” Fox is probably the leader in promoting sexism and the oversexualization of girls. This is not a Halloween’s issue, it’s a culture issue. (25, 26, 27)

38. “parade them on our Facebook pages as if they are somehow deserving of honor.” This is another contemporary culture issue, not a Halloween issue. Yes, many women post provocative photos of themselves on Facebook. Yes, it’s terrible. But is Blake really trying to argue that the ancient Catholics who participated in Halloween in 1245AD posted dirty pictures on Facebook? No, this is a modern culture thing. Young women do it with bikinis during summer, should we outlaw summer? Or should we work hard to change the culture?

39. Another surprise, another verse out of context, dealing with works of darkness done in secret (Eph 5:11-12). It is obvious that Halloween is not a secret holiday, but a very public and secular one. This verse simply doesn’t apply. Yet that doesn’t mean that Christians should not strive to remove the aberrant sexist demands on women to flaunt themselves in numerous cultural expressions. We should. Yet, let us not mix the war against sexism with Halloween, the two were never historically related.

40. Finally, it seems odd that Blake contradicts herself in the definition of Halloween. First she argues that it is still the ancient pagan holiday that is satanic in origin, and it has not changed, so that is why it’s wrong. Later, she reverts, and argues it’s wrong because it’s a completely different secular holiday which has been changed by our society to include a new sexist theme. It seems to me Blake should stick with one or the other, either the holiday is an unchanged ancient Druid holiday, or a changed contemporary secular sexist holiday, to claim something is both exactly the same and completely different, is illogical.

Regarding “We play how we practice.”

41. Blake argues that Halloween prepares one to act out strangely. She does not base this on any relevant psychological data, but simply makes the assumption. While this is fine for writing down in one’s diary, but this simply cannot do in the publication of a real article.

42. Psychologist say the truth is exactly the opposite. That our Halloween costumes and habits are not something that comes into our life and changes us, but actually comes from within and reveals our inner self. It seems odd to attack the instrument of expressing what is within, rather than the evil that is within (28, 29, 30)

43. Jesus agrees with the psychologists (or is it the other way around?) in saying that things from the outside do not defile us and make us evil. On the other hand, it is what is on the inside that is the root of evil. Jesus said that “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Mat 15:11)

44. Blake then introduces an logical fallacy called an “appeal to consequences,” wherein she presents a totally fictitious outcome of Halloween and uses that fictitious prediction to argue Halloween is wrong. She uses a fictitious story (she made it up, out of the blue) and thinks that is enough to prove her point. There is absolutely no psychological and psychiatric evidence that Halloween causes necrophilia. I will gladly change my mind when legitimate evidence is presented.

45. On the other hand, there is a great deal of evidence that Halloween does not make one obsessive. For example, there are a great of eminent pastors and church leaders who celebrated Halloween in their childhoods, and indeed still do, however, are not necrophiliacs. Let me stress this, there is more real evidence that children who celebrated Halloween in their childhood became pastors than there is for Blake’s unwarranted speculation. (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)

46. If dressing up in costumes allows us to act out and assume violent identities, does this not make any church play the vehicle towards extreme violence? According to Blake’s logics, it certainly seems that way. For example, what if a little boy is dressed up as an angel? Well in the Bible angels are agents of God’s wrath, often smiting and destroying cities and armies. Or what if a boy is dressed as David, does he automatically want others to say of him what was said of David in the Bible? (1 Samuel 18:7)

47. Now Blake comes about full circle, and again bemoans the horrific and gory side of Halloween. Previously she had stated that the reason Halloween is wicked is because Satan makes it so attractive in order to lure in Christians, now she argues that it wicked because it is completely unattractive with its “macabre, erect gravestones … dead ‘bodies.’” Well which one is it? It can’t be both. Blake needs to find a consistent position, not flip-flop as it suits her.

48. “if we choose to be entertained by evil, we should be prepared for the time when it becomes reality” Time and time again Blake uses circular arguments to prove Halloween is evil, because it is evil, and therefore we know its evil. Halloween has been around historically for over 1300 years. Did ghosts and demons destroy the world? What is this evil reality she is speaking of? The world is far less superstitious than it has ever been. A far bigger danger is complete naturalism and secularism, not the reality of superstition and witchcraft.

49. She includes yet another Bible verse (is this getting old or what) that is out of context regarding Halloween. This time it’s Eph 6:12 which talks about spiritual battle against Satan. Of course Blake sees this to be against Halloween, just because she assumes Halloween is really Satan (because he isn’t like an angel of light or anything). She isn’t bothered the fact that a biblical definition of the doctrines of demons in no way matches her definition. (1 Tim 1:4-6)

50. She concludes this by equivocating Halloween festivities as camping out “one night a year “for fun” on the side of the enemy.” Again, there isn’t a shred of proof to back up her shame-filled statement. She manages to cast guilt upon hundreds of millions of wise, caring, historically acute, Christians who use Halloween to share neighborly love. All based on her morally righteous, opinionated speculation.

Regarding “Are we causing others to stumble?”

51. Blake starts off by yet again (yes, really) arguing from zero evidence that Halloween today is “the ancient pagan practices of Druid priests.” This is simply untrue. If a historian unbeliever heard her speech, my guess is he would never agree to go to her church, or take her seriously. Halloween today is a secular holiday, devoid of ancient paganism, based loosely on a complex syncretism of numerous historic catholic ideas and medieval superstitions (39)

52. “have we given any thought to the impact our actions might have on others?” This is indeed the question I want to ask her, and every Christian that believes in “Halloween Conspiracy Theory.” If I have a nonbelieving friend, and you call his Catholic grandmother a Satanist for participating in a “druid holiday,” will he not think you are absolutely insane and want nothing to do with you or your Christianity? Yes!

53. Blake introduces the “cause others to stumble” idea found in Mat 18:6 and Mark 9:42. And obviously assumes Jesus was talking about Halloween (must be in a Bible translation I don’t have). Now, let me ask, which is a more likely to scenario. First, children who dress up as the Power Rangers are likely to grow up and stumble into witchcraft, becoming Satanic Power Rangers. Or second, children who are told Halloween is Satanic, grow up to see that statement was an ahistorical, unfactual, superstitious myth; then they refuse to listen to other things Christians tell them, assuming those too perhaps are myths. (Hint witchcraft is not growing, but atheism is) (40, 41, 42)

54. “are we opening the door to involvement in those practices in the future” This strange logical fallacy argument reminds me of the ruckus over the Harry Potter books years ago. Millions of Christians predicted mass movements of new child-witches. This never came, instead young people continue to lead in atheist polls, not supernaturalst polls. As JK Rowling put it “I’m laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met thousands of children and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, “Ms Rowling, I’m so glad I’ve read these books because now I want to be a witch.” (43)

55. “Will our children learn values we want them to learn by participating in this ‘holy day’” First, Blake shows her ignorance of the history and etymology of the term Halloween, which does really come derive from “holy” and “day” which completely contradicts her speculation that Halloween is pagan. She then appeals to sentiment, by bringing in children. I want to ask her, will her children learn good values such as ignorance of history, propagation of falsehood, superstitious fear of the unknown, cultural isolationism, and shaming or shunning everyone who disagrees as worshiping the devil?

56. “what values are we impressing on our children when we send them trick-or-treating?” I would probably say we are enabling children to learn the beauty of capitalism. The bigger houses provide the most candy, while the cheaper apartments have less to give. (I am laughing as I write this.) What is Blake referring to? Apparently something sinister is the answer. Something like, we are teaching our children the values of worshiping the devil? Oh really? So that little kid who comes to my door asking for candy is a Satan worshiper? Really? Little Iron Man is here to sacrifice my soul to the demons?57. “Is the lie “give me your candy or I’ll play a trick” really becoming of anyone?” Another case of historical ignorance. I cover the four possible historical sources of Trick or Treating in my post The Real History of Halloween. None of them are a “lie.” I also cover the historical development of holiday traditions, which Blake appears to be oblivious of with a statement like this. Traditions are often complex anachronisms, not simplistic statements as she assumes. According to her strange logic, she could consider play-actors as liars for not truly meaning what they recite.
58. “If we forego Halloween but give our children a substitute celebration instead, are we sending the message that “I am trying to compensate because I think you’re missing out on something really amazing?” Here, Blake goes overboard by not only denouncing Christians who participate in Hallowing in a positive way, but even those who host “anti-Halloween” parties. Her rhetoric simply does not hold up. Even if Halloween was evil, this would still be a logical fallacy. If I give a teenager a car to stay off drugs, am I really telling him drugs are better than a car?

59. “No more bobbing for apples in the church basement (a pagan fertility ritual, by the way)” Blake begins to show her true colors. She starts off by saying she is not legalistic, and goes on to completely contradict her moderate introduction. Using her logic we can probably find or invent pagan roots in every single game, event, or “thing.” Does she not know that it was Pagan’s like the Egyptians and Sumerians that invented writing as an ancient ritual of spreading pagan ideas?! Yet she uses the written language herself! Oh dear, she must be warned, her soul is in danger!
60. Finally there is a contrast between Halloween versus “true joy in knowing God’s true Son!” Oh really? Are those the only two options being offered to the world? Halloween or Jesus? Really? There is no possibility that maybe, just maybe, there could be a tiny little bit of wiggle room? Blake defiantly says no, and thus implies that millions of Christians who claim they love Jesus but celebrate Halloween are evil pagans. Thank you Mrs. Blake, boy am I glad to know this truth.

Regarding “Be faithful in the small things.”

61. “For many Christians, the thought of whether to celebrate Halloween is a small issue, maybe even a non-issue. After all, it’s only one day a year. And what harm is there really in a handful of Snickers miniatures and a pillowy pumpkin costume?” Finally an argument that Blake posits seems to make sense, unless… on no, the only reasonable statement is merely her conspiracy introduction.
62. But “If we can’t be faithful in the small things, how will our hearts be faithful in the big things?” The only rational statement is quickly followed up by a non sequitur logical fallacy. She makes a giant, unproven and improvable leap, from saying giving a pumpkin-child a Snickers is really a sign of unfaithfulness to God. This is taking on the form of a moralizing superstitious myth. 0% fact, 100% shaming everyone who disagrees. This is starting to smell like the Spanish Inquisition.
63. She throws in another (drumroll) out of context Bible verse, Luke 16:10. A quick cursory glance will show you that the whole chapter of Luke has to do with greed and forgiveness. I double checked in the Greek five times, the word “Halloween” is really not there, but I’d encourage you to double check.64. “even something as seemingly small as how we handle Halloween is important” I totally agree with this statement. Showing our intellectual dishonesty, proclivity to childish superstition, and gullibility towards urban myths tells a great deal about us. And furthermore, it makes unbelievers far less likely to take us seriously.65. “God has told us to focus on what is pure, noble, right, lovely, and admirable (Philippians 4:8). Is Halloween any of these things? No” Another improper hermeneutic handing of a Bible verse, this passage is not concerned with 21st century Halloween as it is with our hearts. Let’s ask, is reading about the killing of a large group of people “pure, noble, right, lovely, and admirable”? Blake would quickly jump and say “no!” and by doing that, she would tell us that the Old Testament does not fit her criterion.
66. Next, is 1 John 3:8, where yet again there is a leap of ignorance to assume and declare Halloween is equivalent to the Devil. She gives no explanation, no evidence, no intellectual rigor, and no honesty. And so she deserves no answer except the equivalent type of baseless declaration that she is completely wrong. She is wrong. Boom. Roasted. Because I said so.67. “when the big temptations come alone when we can’t even say no to glorifying evil in what we do for fun” Here Blake begins to expose her intimate inner self, including the fact that deep down she is really, really, really tempted to go out there and celebrate Halloween. I can only sympathize with her. Indeed it is really hard sometimes. Why even now I’m really craving to go out there and join the neighborhood children, I mean Satanists, in the pagan sacrifice at the local Samhain altar (at the YMCA naturally).68. “Pure and undefiled… is this: to visit orphans and widows.“ Blake quotes the book of James as proof of… honestly, I’m not even sure, I don’t know if she is either. In any case,I just wonder if it’s all right to visit widows and orphans in a costume? What if they have a jack-o-lantern in the driveway? Do I listen to James and visit the widow? Or do I listen to Blake and avoid that horrible heathen of a Satan-worshiping, Halloween-celebrating pagan?
69. “we are so much alike no one can tell where the world ends and the Church begins.” Oh really? No one? Like not even one person in the whole world? What about this guy? (44) I’m not a Catholic, but he has a funny hat, and I think that means he knows something. Seriously though, what about the lawyers who sue people for infringing the separation of church and state clash? (45) They seem to be bringing plenty of cases to the supreme court. If no one can tell the difference between Church (religion) and State (secular) why the lawsuits about people who cross that border?70. “We need to start keeping ourselves pure in the small things, so that we will be able to stay pure and undefiled in the big things” Really? Is that the way it works? You gotta start with Halloween, and only when you kick it out, only then can you conquer the big things? Is that why many fundamentalists do it just like that? For example, Teg Haggard, who used to have special prayers against the darkness of Halloween (46) but was later exposed to be using homosexual prostitutes? (47) Or like the male founder of the fundamentalist Apologetics Press, who was removed from office for sexually abusing a young boy (48). Blake’s argument certainly didn’t work for them.

Regarding “God wants to bless us — but not in the way the world blesses.”

71. Blake is proficient at black or white analogies, regardless of the collateral damage, to the faith or the faithful. She, yet again, starts off this section with setting herself up being with Jesus, and everyone who disagrees with her, to be against Jesus. Such ridiculous self-righteousness moralizing is not helpful.

72. “for those us who love Jesus, why is it so important to entertain the macabre and flirt with the dark side” I’d like to ask a counter-rhetorical-question. For those of us who love Jesus, why is it important to entertain historical lies and the superstitions guilting of fundamentalism? Why not openly discuss this like civilized people without drawing horns on anyone who disagrees?

73. Blake, just to be consistent in at least one thing, throws in another out-of-context verse, Jeremiah 10:2. This one is about Astrology and pagans looking at the starts for signs. At this point Blake has completely given up explaining and contextualizing the verses, they are just thrown in, almost at random. I highly doubt that there is a real connection with Halloween and Astrology. I’m not sure if Blake thinks so, because that’s what she appears to imply, but it seems she isn’t even sure of that herself and because she doesn’t realize this is about Astrology.

74. “We often say we don’t want to deprive our children of candy, of dressing up, of the “fun” they have by participating in this holiday. But God has already told us the customs of the world are futile!” She continues to try arguing that dressing up and eating candy is the same thing as listening to Astrologers instead of trusting God. And, for all we know, this might be true. I did recently hear that the famous psychic Mrs. Cleo had eaten candy in her childhood.

75. “Is this is the kind of happiness we want for our children, we are clearly setting our standards too low” Blake is correct, our standards are too low. When Halloween comes around and all of Billy’s friends are having fun by poaching hundreds of candies, Billy’s mother ought lock him up and tell him to read the Book of Deuteronomy, that will certainly contain more fun and less violence.
76. “Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and He will provide all of the other things we need.” I’m not sure what she intends to say, but it sounds like she might be changing her mind? If someone seeks God first, can they seek Halloween second? Or perhaps if someone seeks God will first, then God can provide the Halloween they need?

77. Another…. Out of context verse! This time it’s Psalm 37:3-4, which is a generic reminder to trust God and do good. I think Blake is again saying it’s impossible to trust God and be a kind neighbor on Halloween? Unfortunately for her wild rhetorical statement, this is argued against by a great many leading pastors from numerous Christian movements and denominations (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)78. “God, however, has far better things in store for us than candy corn and parlor games” Goodness, this Blake lady has no end! She keeps casting her net wider and wider. She is now completely anti-candy and anti-fun! What did candy corn ever do to her? Then again, I suppose candy corn does kind of look like the devils horns.
79. “Would our time be better spent in prayer, teaching our children about the real dangers their friends face by dabbling in the occult.” It looks like Blake has finally explained her endgame. The reason she doesn’t want children to have alternative “anti-halloween” parties at church, is because she would rather they spend that whole evening learning about the frightening dangers of the occult. I can only imagine the tension in a tiny child’s brain from hearing all of his friends at school are about to be infected by evil Dante-ish demons from hell. Wait, didn’t Blake earlier say something about not scaring children and casting out fear?
80. In conclusion there is finally a verse in proper historical and theological context, with a very astute hermeneutical approach and exegesis. She writes, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —Luke 12:34” Gosh she totally caught me here! My treasure is Halloween, and that’s where my heart is. Not only one day a year, but all 365 days a year. For me it’s Halloween every single day. I usually stock up on sacred Halloween ritual candy to last me the whole year. I buy it at the same place I get my cauldron and chicken feet. Saw Harry Potter and Merlin there last week.

Regarding “There is sin in the camp”

81. Blake starts off with a wonderful utilization of the logical fallacy called “slippery slope” and carefully reminds us that giving a Disney princess a snickers is very likely to lead to the use of an Ouija board. This very carefully researched and documented wild speculation leaves me speechless. Obviously because I cannot even think of a counter argument. It’s probably because I’m busy hiding my own Ouija board. (Right as Pastor Tim Keller is hiding his).

82. “What about pretending to cast spells?” Another powerful argument from Blake. I’m not exactly sure what it is or why its powerful, but I know it is supposed to make me feel emotional. Wait for it. Wait for it. Boom, there go the goosebumps. What a crafty argument there Mrs. Blake. You have clearly proven your point. Which is, what exactly? That people who participate in Halloween start casting spells? Does that include the following Christian leaders? Do they cast a spell over their audience? (49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)83. “We have made ourselves the judges of what is good and evil instead of following God’s command to avoid even the spoils of the enemy.” Another solid, rational, reasonable argument from Mrs. Blake. Assuming she is really referring to herself when she uses the term “we” I have no counterargument. She really is assuming herself as the judge of what is good or evil, she has even made herself the judge of who is with the devil. (And what a surprise, that just happens to be veryone who disagrees with her.)

84. “I have two words to say to that kind of thinking: Remember Achan.” All of a sudden Mr.’s “I-don’t-like-Halloween-because-it’s-all-about-fear” takes her gloves off. No more Mrs. Nice Guy. Now, by disagreeing with her point, you are not only joining the dark side, participating in satanic rituals, and in line to become a necrophiliac, but you are also on the verge of falling under divine punishment. If you don’t listen to her, God will kill you. Shiver. Didn’t you say that fear is demonic, Mrs. Blake? But now fear is actually ok, provided its only used to prove your point?

85. To drive home the point Blake recites Joshua 7:8-12 (wait for it……. Out of context!). There is some implied connection to one of the Hebrews stealing sacred pagan objects, against God’s particular command a few hours beforehand, to a Catholic holiday –turned secular – which is really about the glamorization of candy? For the record Mrs. Blake, I heard the same out of context passage against Gameboys and Pokémon in my childhood. I was frightened to death and waited for God to smite me, and he never did. Instead, I later learned I should be thankful for some little measure of childhood joy, and that it was only boring, anti-fun-fundamentalists (ironic, no?) who liked to use that passage against everything they personally didn’t like.

86. “The darkness of Halloween is devoted to destruction and is in no way honoring to our Father of lights” What if we have lots of lights on? Perhaps drape them all over the place, even turn on a few very bright happy lights? Argument disproven, take that.

87. “God is a jealous God, and all pagan beliefs are sinful in God’s eyes”Oh really, this again? Still trying to argue that All Hallows (Saints) Eve is somehow related to an ancient pagan tradition, and therefore evil? Unlike everything else in Christianity? For your one unhistoric, unintellectual, uneducated, baseless, emotionalist, speculation I offer you these references. And yes, there are thousands more, and no, I doubt you will care. (57, 58, 5960, 61, 62, 63, 64)

88. “And we need to help hold each other accountable because we may all bear the judgment for sin in the camp.” More fear mongering. This is basically a carefully wrapped version of “if you celebrate Halloween God will kill you and everyone else who doesn’t even celebrate it.” Does such an argument (based on the Old Testament which contains divinely ordained violence, of the variety Blake thinks is purely Satanic) really need a rebuttal?

89. That brings us to a citation of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which is finally in proper historical and theological context, just kidding, this one’s no different than the rest. She is now comparing the falling away of the nation of Israel, including the literal rejection of God and physical worship at the altar of false gods, to Christians giving candy to their neighbors kids. She must be using complex quantum mechanics, for I am oblivious as to how else the leap can be made. Perhaps the humility angle? All Christians who celebrate Halloween must be really, really, proud and arrogant, no? Ahh, that would explain why Mrs. Blake is morally justified in calling them all worshipers of Satan for disagreeing with her.

90. “we should not be surprised when God further removes His hand of blessing and protection from this great land.” Like any other patriot, Blake finds a place to insert good ol’ American Nationalism into the picture. God loves our “great land” more than all the other ones, that’s why we have BigMacs and Cadillac’s while those poor African children are starving, but if we keep celebrating Halloween, God will kill us all, Amen, Go Murrica!

Regarding “Come out from them and be separate.”

91. Blake asks “Why was I hanging on so tightly?” and answers “my celebration of Halloween had become an idol to me.” I know the feeling, holidays can very easily become idols and take over our minds and hearts. Why just last year I made Christmas Day my idol. I made an altar of Yule at my house, and the whole day listened to eastern New Age music while meditating on the divine wisdom of Santa Claus. Fortunately I was told that Santa is really Satan in disguise (both wear red and have the same letter in their name) I realized that I was blind, and quickly repented. Though now I am a little tempted to make the 4th of July my new idol. Those firecrackers are so tantalizing.

92. “embraced the traditions of men even when I knew God’s heart on the matter” I guess at the end of the day Mr.’s Blake just truly knows God’s heart on the matter of Halloween. Sorry John Piper, Billy Graham, Tim Keller, Greg Boyd, Jeff Harshbarger (eek a Pentecostal leader!) you are all wrong and don’t know God’s heart. Sorry John MacArthur and Mark Driscoll, you simply don’t know God like Mr.’s Blake. (Btw, did you just see that, we found at least one thing that Mark Driscoll and John MacArthur agree on, Hallelujah!)

93. Blake then quotes “Therefore come out from them and be separate from them, says the Lord.” —2 Corinthians 6:17 That’s right all you heathen Christians who are fake, Satan worshiping pretenders! Got you know! Come out from amongst those Halloween worshipers! At least that’s what Blakes argument looks like. I think she might be reading too much into scripture, but then again isn’t it written somewhere “God shall separate the Halloweeners to the left and the Holy objectors to the right”? No? Well, gosh darn, it should be!94. “if I fit right in with our culture and no one can tell I am any different- then I am probably doing something wrong” Perhaps you can try this (65) everyone can definitely tell they are different. Otherwise you can try to be known by your good deeds, Matthew 5:16, rather than by calling everyone who disagrees a Satanist? That might be something to try? Or else you can try living peacefully with others, Rom 12:18 & Heb 12:14, instead of calling them Satanic? Maybe even (God forbid) try being a gentile to the gentiles in order to win them (1 Corinthians 9:20-23) instead of calling them children of Satan? Then again, that’s a lot of effort.
95. How does Blake plan on being noticeably different the rest of the year? So far her comprehensive plan has only involved the banning of Halloween, and it’s replacement with a frightening day-long children’s seminar on the real dangers of the occult. Seriously, what else? The whole plan is that Halloween is devilishly evil, and therefore if we don’t celebrate it (and call everyone who does a Satanist, as Blake eloquently shows by example) people will want to be like us? What about on all the non-Halloween days? Or does Blake intend to have her anti-Halloween indoctrination classes year round to really, really, prove that she is different?96. “By even acknowledging and associating with the holiday, I was giving credence to it in my life and opening myself to deception.” What kind of deception is Blake referencing? We have no idea, but the scary word “deception” is argument enough! Although I have heard someone say, that once upon a time they heard, in a faraway land, someone else say, that they heard another person say, that someone once saw another person say, that some guy celebrated Halloween and ate the candy became demonically possessed because he opened his heart to Halloween-demons. Sounds legit to me. Give the woman a PhD.
97. “it is myprayer that everyone who follows Christ will be open to prayerfully seeking God’s wisdom about the traditions of man.” Ok we agree here. But why am I getting the feeling that by “God’s wisdom” Blake is referring to her blog post, and by “traditions of man” she means all those Satanists that disagree?

98. To make a point that is completely unknown to me, Blake quotes Ephesians 5:6-10. I’m so confused as to the actual context at this point, I can’t even say if this is an out of context verse. It seems to be another encouragement to be good Christians, and Blake has already proved via wild, undocumented, baseless, speculation those Christians who try to bring a positive message on Halloween, simply cannot be good Christians, at least not as good as they are God-hating, unfaithful, Satanic witches.

99. If only there was a Bible verse that had something Biblical to say about celebrating holidays that might be pagan, unto the Lord. That would be so helpful. Wait a minute, what is this? Mrs. Blake, in her excellent and thorough hermeneutical masterpiece missed one? Here it is “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” (Romans 14:5-6)

100. And finally, this is the hundredth point, do I even really need another argument? Let me get at least one simple baseless assertion, Blake got ten of them of them.

What as the point of this?

Yes, that was a lot of satire, but articles that spread falsehoods deserve it. What’s the point of it then? I am sincerely not here to force you to celebrate Halloween. Honestly.

I agree, there may be reasons to avoid or tone down your celebration. Use your Christian liberty and conscience. Use your wisdom. If you feel wrong, don’t. If you don’t want to, don’t.

But please, for the love of God, don’t make stuff up, don’t spread ridiculous lies, don’t argue from ignorance of history. Don’t try to force and shame others for participating. Don’t spread false information. Don’t guilt those who participate. Don’t present Christianity as an ignorant and superstitious religion.

What Blake accuses dissenters of:

I’ve gotten a lot of attacks from friendly believers because I am apparently “attacking a good sister in Christ” (ironic, no?) who just wanted to write a very nice Biblical article about her opinion? Unfortunately this is not the case. I don’t mind other opinions, it’s the accusations I don’t like. For example, these are some gleanings that I am guilty of because I disagree with Blake, according to Blake.

First, refusing to obey every single Bible verse she quotes.

Leaving Jesus and “just a little flirting once a year” with the other guy

“Even though we ourselves may not be involved in the practice of witchcraft, we give credence to” its holiday

Refusing to “avoid all pagan rituals and traditions.”

Being “accustomed to the traditions of men [so much that] we refuse to question them”

“Ignor[ing] the fact that this festival in no way honors God”

“Celebrat[ing] the very practices God abhors”

“Putting a Christian label over the top of a pagan practice [that isnt] pleasing to God.”

“keep[ing] the ways of the world and sprinkl[ing] Christianity on top”

“supping with demons” and thinking “it’s okay to dine with demons — as long as you wear a costume to protect yourself.”

Refusing to say no to to “Satans festival” because “he’s let us create our own G-rated version that we aren’t as likely to resist.”

“act[ing] a tad bit naughty when our real identity is hidden. It’s almost as if bad behavior is somehow excused when we are in costume”

“prefer[ing] to emulate [the works of darkness] and parad[ing] them on our Facebook pages as if they are somehow deserving of honor”

Enabling “some among us [to] decide to act out in real life the fascination with evil we insist on holding dear”

“choos[ing] to be entertained by evil,”

“camp[ing] out one night a year “for fun” on the side of the enemy.”

Enabling a “17-year-old []to have] a fascination with dead bodies and decides to act on his morbid desires.”

“dabble[ing] in the ancient pagan practices of Druid priests”

Not giving “thought to the impact our actions might have on others”

Presenting “present witchcraft, promiscuity, and the occult in a fun and seductive manner”

“opening the door to involvement in those practices in the future”

Refusing to “stand up against evil even when our culture says it’s fine”

“bobbing for apples in the church basement [as an alternative, which is realy] (a pagan fertility ritual,”

Refusing to “be faithful in the small things”

Refusing to “focus on what is pure, noble, right, lovely, and admirable”

“remember[ing], imitate[ing], and even elevate[ing] …the works of Satan”

Refusing to “say no to glorifying evil in what we do for fun”

“join[ing] forces with the world” and becoming “one giant spot with [the world]”

Being “so much alike [to the world] no one can tell where the world ends and the Church begins.”

Neglecting to keep “ourselves pure in the small things

“entertain[ing] the macabre and flirt[ing] with the dark side for one day, one week, or one month out of the year”

Refusing to “delight in the joy the Lord Himself has set before us”

“setting our standards too low”

Neglecting to “Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness,”

“believ[ing] Satan’s lie that God was withholding something good from us”

“grovel[ing] in the plastic sandbox [of the world]” instead of turning to God

Spending “money on an… event that is so dishonoring to God”

Making Halloween our treasure and refusing to believe “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Not being certain about drawing the line “draw[ing] the line at Ouija boards”

Not denouncing others for “pretending to cast spells”

Attempting to put “orange and black sugar coating” on a day “devoted to destruction and in no way honoring to our Father “

Refusing to “hold each other accountable”

Causing everyone to “bear the judgment for sin in the camp.”

Not “truly humbling ourselves and turning from wickedness?”

“refus[ing] to surrender in complete obedience to His Word in even the simple act of turning from [Halloween and evil]”

“Refusing[ing] to repent and seek God’s wisdom in every aspect of our lives”

Causing God to remove “His hand of blessing and protection from this great land.”

Allowing the “celebration of Halloween [to] become an idol”

Neglecting “to be holy, which means to be set apart”

“fit[ing] right in with our culture” so that “no one can tell [we are] any different” and by that “doing something wrong.”

Attempting to “have less up do with darkness than other people do” instead of listening to the Bible where “it says have nothing to do with evil”

Refusing to “come out from them and be separate from them” in reference to satanic idol worshipers

Giving credence to [the evils of Halloween] in my life and opening [ourselves] to deception.”

Neglecting to be “open to prayerfully seeking God’s wisdom about the traditions of man.”

Refusing to “Walk as children of light” instead remaining in “darkness”

Here are some related posts

Is religion good? Five ways Christianity is harmful “Why don’t you just stop talking about religion?!” The statement seemed more of a command than a question. He looked at me, eyes filled with frustration, waving his hands as he raised his voice. “All you do is talk about religion! Get a life! Go do s...

Paul said that
Christians should “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Ephesians 5:11) He also wrote
in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 that we are to “Keep away from every kind
of evil.” (New Living Translation) I would be careful and stay away from it as a christian because I know how bad it can be, trust me. Living on campus in a state school I have seen many things that are done on this day. Trust me nothing Christian at all. Maybe one day It was meant for good but not anymore, time have changed but God will always stay the same. Its not meant for a christian and just remember that even the devil was once an angel, just pray for wisdom and protection. That is all.

I answered these types of allegations in the post. Quite simply put, there are many Christians who disagree with you. Many are prominent leaders from every possible denomination, like John Piper, Billy Graham, Greg Boyd. Are you calling them “evil” and “sinners” and “satanists”?

First, I am not the same person as Truth. Also, please do not say words that I did not say. For example, never did I call anyone evil, sinner, or a satanist. Also, please show me proof from these prominent leaders that disagree with me, all the ones you mentioned. Thank you. Also, you know what I realized growing up in a Christian family. It was hard to stay christian. I grew up turning away from it, by partying and being bad. You know what the easiest thing for me was to do at that point of my life? It was to come up with excuses of why something wasn’t bad. When you start turning away from God it was so easy to just come up with excuses. I used to do exactly what you did; research look things up until i found that calmness of okay guess its not that bad or I’m still good. But lately deep in my heart and in actual truth I realized wow I’m falling apart further from God. I need to get closer to God. Iv’e turned my life around. Jesus
answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not
alarmed.Mat 24:3-9 (NIV). I believe this time has come and we have to stay strong not to get deceived. The Devil is tricky and will try to come at us in every angle. Once again all I can ask you to do is pray for wisdom from God and guidance in the holy spirit. Because if you do have the holy spirit I do not know how your heart did not ache at all defending something that you know is better to stay away from. Mine hurt reading just this. Matthew 7:21-23 English Standard Version (ESV) 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to
me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ I’d say pretty scary Yuri. Just pray for wisdom and be careful from what you preach because words have a big meaning and every word you say and people listen YOU will have a burden to carry, God will judge, just make sure you are ready. Just like we are all trying to be better to. That is all. Please do not mock me with saying that is all, very disrespectful when you are trying to prove a point, kind of shows how ignorant you are and do not like when people try to state something.

You cannot blame me
for being suspicious. Two people with similar points, with the names
“Life” and “Truth” seem very similar.

By agreeing with Blakes article, you agree with her allegations. Please review her article for
the numerous times Blake takes “black and white” stands. Time and time again she makes strong statements with those who take a different view.

According to Blake they are guilty of:
1. First, refusing to obey every single Bible
verse she quotes.

2. Leaving Jesus and “just a little
flirting once a year” with the other guy

I have not read truth’s post and do not know what they said. But when writing something stop and think how someone who did not read the other article would interrupt your article. You love arguing against other people by saying things that they did not say. Once again never did I say I agreed with her. So basically your response to me was worthless just a bunch of unnecessary statements. In my prospective yours was not any better. You really need to start thinking what you say. Please when you respond actually respond to what I said and don’t rant off about something different. I basically wrote out all that previously and that was all you had to say?

1. You came to argue on my personal website, in response to this blog. I daresay it was no fault of my own that I assumed you were defending the article I was responding to, instead of starting a whole new rabbit trail

2. I said “by agreeing with Blakes article you agree with this.” If you don’t agree with Blakes article, then why are you here attacking my critique of said article? Furthermore, it would have been sufficient to state “I don’t agree with Blakes article, so these things don’t apply.”

3 Your posts seems to strongly hint that you do, indeed, agree with the point of Blake’s article. Lets review:

A. You said “Christians should “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
Am I wrong in assuming you refer to Halloween as a word of darkness? And that I am indeed being accused of unfruitful works of darkness? I suppose it’s possible that we are talking about some other evils like abortion, homosexuality, or murder, even though the comment is on this post?

B. You stated Christians should “Keep away from every kind of evil.”
Am I wrong in assuming this evil is the Halloween in context, and I among others are refusing to keep away? Perhaps you were just trying to teach me about evil in general, without talking about this post you are commenting on?

C. You stated “I would be careful and stay away from it as a christian because I know how bad it can be, trust me.”
Am I wrong in assuming you are saying Halloween is bad, and that I am the person in danger of not being careful? Perhaps by “it” you are referring to premarital sex or something unrelated to this post?

D. You said “Trust me nothing Christian at all. Maybe one day It was meant for good but not anymore, time have changed but God will always stay the same.”
Am I wrong in assuming that you are saying my arguments are for something that is “nothing Christian” and against Gods unchanging character? Were you perhaps talking about other holidays and other blog posts in that sentence?

E. You said “Its not meant for a christian and just remember that even the devil was once an angel, just pray for wisdom and protection.”
Am I wrong in assuming you state Halloween is cannot be celebrated in a positive way by Christians, but instead we need to pray for protection from it? Or perhaps you were talking about something different than this post you are commenting on?

F. You said “I used to do exactly what you did… research look things up until i found that calmness. But lately deep in my heart and in actual truth I realized wow I’m falling
apart further from God.” Am I wrong in assuming you are equivocating your past folly to my current state? Or are you speaking of something completely non-related?

G. You said ” I believe this time has come and we have to stay strong not to get deceived. The Devil is tricky and will try to come at us in every angle.”

Am I wrong in assuming this has to do with me and this post? Or did you would write about a non related tangent that is off topic?

Thus I may be confused and unable to, as you put it, “to actually respond to what I said and don’t rant off about something different.” I’m not even certain of what you mean then. If I deal with your comment to this blog post, you claim it doesn’t apply, yet the actual content and prime location, of your comments, leads me to believe maybe it does apply.

1. I did come on your personal website to critique you on your “opinions”.
2. I never read Blakes article.

3. Once again did not read the article.

A. I do refer to Halloween as a word of darkness because I know what my friends do, even one example is mischief night common don’t have to be a scholar to know.

B. The word “Halloween” it self is not evil but the things done on it are unchristian, so please stop shadowing it and protecting it, its like your in a bubble and you do not see what is going around you. Where do you live in a middle of a field with no one else around you, please. Lets be real.

C. Your not being careful in the fact that you are proclaiming that halloween is not bad. You do understand that the point you are stating can have a big impact? Your saying that participating in Halloween has not one drop of unchristianity in it? Not bad at all? Man Im scared to be talking to you, who controls your heart? God or society?

D. Yes you may assume that. Explain to me how your argument for this article is something Christian and not against Gods unchanging character? Did you ever hear of Halloween being celebrated or even celebrated the way it is today? dude its like black and white man. How is Haloween good just tell me that, prove me wrong.

E. For the fact of how society celebrates Halloween no i do not think we can celebrate it in a positive way, especially if its on the same day, how about just pray instead on that day? And the fact that I said remember even the devil was once an angel refers to people like you sometimes and other people. You can not always listen to other peoples thoughts or preaches especially towards the end of time. Its come to the time where you almost need to protect yourself and the family. Even the devil was once an angel but was evil. Evil hides itself well.

F. That statement was for you. I feel like your just looking for answers to let yourself believe why its not bad. I used to do that to. I would keep going until i found something that fit my wants.

G. And yes that was for you man. Honestly answers this to me why did you choose to write an article about Halloween and how its not actually bad. Do you truly believe that there is no harm in it, no bad, no lie, nothing that God would be disappointed in seeing his children partake in. Before you answer that really think about that. Ask yourself, what would God say. Now I did not read her article and maybe she was wrong with some of her points and approaches but I do not think that your articles approach with completely stomping out the whole halloween is totally not bad now was a bit to far.

LIfe, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate your comments and scriptures. Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays, then, the Lord saved me and changed my heart and my life. I am not saying that Halloween is horrible and if your participate then you don’t love the Lord, but I have found in the last two years that it scares my children and I myself have nightmares from some of the things that the store has displayed. I only participate because my hubby (who is not a believer) doesn’t see a problem with it. My kids are not exposed to much t.v., movies, and I homeschool. I never thought my life would be this way, but I want to obey the Lord and I trust Him. I too believe that if you are convicted about something then you should not be doing it anymore, also causing someone else to stumble is right there in black and white for a reason. We are also taught to consider one another as more important than ourselves. I was convicted about Halloween so I don’t put up the scary décor or watch the scary movies anymore. I set out a bowl of candy and take my kids out in the most unscary, covered costumes I can find and again, only to obey the Lord and submit to my husband. I am just realizing how narrow that gate really is and I am very sad. I praise the Lord that he brought me to a Bible teaching/living church and he has blessed me with eternal life. No, it’s actually harder being a Christian and every once in awhile I wonder about that, but what is the alternative? I now could not even imagine being separated from my God for eternity. Anyway, thanks again and if you are interested and ever need encouragement, good teaching (or convicting) from the Word, my pastor does a radio program. http://www.etsradio.com/ In Christ

This is a dumb comment. Sorry for being forward like that. We celebrate it, let our kids dress up and help us give candy out, we put them in bags with bible verses and love our neighborhood, thats more Christian than hiding and calling everyone devil.

Wow, I’ve never thought I’d see a Christian defend Halloween, but then again…. Simply Wiki The history of Halloween and it disproves couple of the facts you mentioned above in your zealousness to defend it.

Read testimonies of high occultists and their take in Halloween.
Be Alert Christian, for the Devil is here to kill, steal and destroy.
If you look at what culture celebrates on Halloween along with the innocent kids and candy, it’s death, vampires, demons, etc. – nothing glorious to be celebrated and esteemed by Anyone, let alone children of Light.

Hi Light, thanks for engaging with me. I would argue that if your carefully read that wikipedia page it will gently disprove everything you said.

“According to many scholars, All Hallows’ Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals,[8][9] with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.[6][10][11] Other academics maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.[12]”

Also, I’m sorry, I don’t put any stock or faith in anyone who thinks he’s an occultist and satanist. Simply put, I don’t and won’t listen to them. I’d rather listen to history, science, research, theology, biblical studies more than any satanist.

I caught that too. Yuriy, you might be using Blake’s article as a representation of Christian opinions everywhere. You wrote some great stuff, just be careful that you don’t make your counter another writer that people may or may not read.

I think you missed the point. Halloween today, is not what it used to be way back in history times. Secondly, if Blake was convicted by God of celebrating it and giving it importance, how can you say that is wrong? And thirdly, I find it amusing that your defending a “holiday” that has nothing good or righteous in it. If it doesn’t glorify God, why celebrate it?

I am not an expert, and no historian but personally I feel that there is nothing in Halloween that is praiseworthy.

Lol, hes not defending Halloween, can you read? His post is against that weird and personally offensive post by Blake, that everyone keeps tagging me in. At least he isnt tagging people in this like Blakes followers.

Your tagline is “grow in grace with us”. No thanks. Yours is not the kind of grace that is needed by anyone. It certainly is not the kind of grace demonstrated by Christ. Blake laid out a solid explanation for why SHE DECIDED TO KISS HALLOWEEN GOODBYE (as in HER CHOICE to abandon Halloween). She did it well. You, on the other hand, attacked her–a sister in Christ, a joint heir of grace, a fellow follower of Christ– by sheer volume with sarcasm and bullying. Sorry, but “satire” is not aimed, like an arrow, at another person. I think you need to take a hard look at your motives, as well as your topic, in light of the scriptures. All things are lawful, but not all are profitable and anger does not achieve the righteousness of God (You sound really angry.). Neither does thinking more highly of yourself than you ought, which comes across loud and clear in this exercise in self-aggrandizement. (“She is wrong. Boom. Roasted. Because I said so.” Really? And you call yourself a follower of Jesus?)

By the way, Wikipedia is not considered an credible source at higher learning institutions, and rightly so.

she attacked every single christian leader who disagreed with her.sShe called them unfaithful to God. she called them satanic. she called them idolaters. she used many many different ways to shame everyone.

but I guess, youre ok with calling people that if they disagree with you?

The Wikipedia links have hundreds of citations and references to academic works. Wiki is an open source symposium of knowledge from reputable sources. With all due respect, the fact that you don’t know that, and think it is Wikipedia itself shows you know little about “higher learning institutions”

Blake can abandon Halloween if she chooses, why I even wrote that in my conclusion. This is not an issue of Halloween per se, but an issue of intellectual honesty, and ecclesiastical shaming. Blake condemns everyone who does not agree with her narrow, errant, view. I disagree. Blake argued that makes me a Satanic, unfaithful, devil-worshiping, heathen.

You should find some grace, coming out here and attacking some dude who wrote a blog is not very gracefull. I found Blakes blog to be very offensive to myself. I found Yuriys blog to be funny, a tiny bit overboard on one or two points, but overall its was great.

Get off your high horse of self-rightousness and stop questinoning if Yuriy is a follower of Jesus, thats offensive, how can you claim to be one, when you do the same, if not worse?

I really wanted to like this article as I also found Ms Blakes article to be a bit fear mongering and inaccurate… but this is really over the top. Your tone here is so nasty. You may dismiss this as someone without a sense of humour, but I started off reading this nodding my head and maybe even smiling at some of your jabs, and by the end felt like I was being battered by a blunt object. Too much and too mean.

Well in part, retribution is Biblical, though it’s God not me that will do it.

In the Old Testament “The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his” Prov 14:14
In the NT “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Cor 5:10

In any case, I don’t think I wanted to “give her what she deserved.” In fact I didn’t try to attack the person, but I did satire her arguments which attacked other persons.

I’m sorry Brittany that you found the satire too harsh. Perhaps it was. However, Mrs. Blake’s calling of everyone satanists, unfaithful, pagan, sinful, and other things was far worse in my book.

She started by lying and mocking everyone who disagrees, am I not allowed to mock those words of hers?

“She started by lying and mocking everyone who disagrees, am I not allowed to mock those words of hers?” An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, right? Satire may not be the most appropriate, considering that Jesus commanded to love one another. (John 13:34) Maybe next time, you can rebuke in a more loving manner.

I would research people like Billiee Graham before you say he celebrated halloween. I was going to see what this article is about then i was like “no way” . Please research history and i mean history not some articles from other lost christians who defend halloween. Please tell me why in the world do we celebrate “Easter and Christmas”??? Cuz its a celebration of 2 births. Jesus waa born on CHRISTMAS and since he dies for sins we an we born again He gives us eternal life in Heaven. . . Please tell me it is the Holy spirit who convinced u to defend halloween. PLease show us all unknowledged people where is this tradition shows the Gods light aand praises Jesus in ANY way????? for some reason we who came to this country from other regions of old soviet union never heard of this holiday or participated in it. We come here and we out to do it?? How can we celebrate something thats ugly and makes u scared by just looking at all this evilish stuff. Christmas is not about santa clous or christmas tree it is simply about Saviours birth. That we should celebrate. Easter is not about eggs and bunnies its about Jesus’s death for our sins His sacrifise and the resurection. And then we celebrate his rising to His Father. Holy spirit day and other holidays suxh as his baptism etc. But why we christians should even have any liking to St patricks day, marti grass. Halloween, and other языческии традиции. i have many other points to stay my ground. and i dont agree w you saying that look at all the pastors and what they are doing and we should be following them 1st and most importanly we should follow Holly spirits calling (and not any other spirits) ans live by biblical rules and not this worlds rules and traditions.And follow Bible cuz it will tell you how to live a good christian life and how to avoid all those non christian ways that dont lead to heaven.

I love this. Your reasons and research are solid. I would just say that your rhetoric (attacking Blake and using cleaver wording to possibly accuse her of not being Christian or something) makes the blog hard to read. Sure, it’s funny and cute, but it’s hard to take the information seriously when you take the position of attacking a fellow blogger/writer. It fogs up all the great arguments.

Wow, Yuri, that’s a lot of reasons against the “Halloween conspiracy”. For me one reason is enough, -It’s not inline with Biblical truth.

Actually I think you would be better off to simply give your readers a Biblical understanding of how Christians in American culture should approach Halloween, you probably wouldn’t even need to give 100 reasons, 4 or 5 would be sufficient.

I appreciate this post. I was a non-believer most of my life, and I can honestly say a lot of the time it was because of the little things like this… where my friends who believed would tell me how bad it was (not only Halloween, but other things too), when I am a kid who get to dress up and get candy?? Why does it have to be more than that? Kids can have fun. Overthinking this holiday just makes everything sound so dramatic to someone who can just see it at face value. It’s about what we TEACH our children; not allowing them to participate in things that are harmless will only make them question our actions as they develop their own thoughts… because they WILL develop their own thoughts. So, raise your children with what you believe, and instill that in them, don’t take something away from them that has no risk.

This is brilliant and hilarious. Blake is totally out of line. I was very frustrated and annoyed by her article. My church celebrates halloween, and were not evil, jeez. We use it to witness to people, its a great happy experience.

Yuriy,
interesting piece, I can tell that you’ve spent a lot of time and effort on it, but I am strongly inclined to disagree. Although many of the origins of the holiday are Catholic, it is my opinion that the modern context of what the holiday stands for is significantly more important to consider. Sure for the kids it may be just fun and games, but societally Halloween is essentially a day where humanity packs everything it is afraid of together and celebrates them all at once. The day revolves around macabre subject matter relating to murder and death (the Christian enemy), spirits of the undead (which can only be demons considering that spirits of humans cannot leave eternity unless granted permission by God), and witchcraft. The entire holiday exists on the premise of fear and anxiety, the exact opposite of the peace and calm we are to have in Christ. Can Halloween be substituted? Sure! Throw a costume party for the kids and let them dress up as cowboys and princesses and eat tons of candy. Westate Chapel hosts a “Harvest Party” every year for the young kids so they don’t feel left out of the events which works perfectly fine. But I think legitimately celebrating the idea of Halloween by actively taking part in it’s festivities isn’t right for a Christian.
Thanks,
Eric

Just one thing. 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 is NOT referring to marrying unbelievers. Yes, it can apply, but in it’s right context it is referring to yoking yourself with false teachers. This is what the whole of 2 Corinthians is talking about, false teachers and how they are basically accusing Paul of many slanderous and untrue things. Sorry, I just wanted the word of God to be taught accurately.

This was great. Seriously. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am so frustrated by everyone who kept posting that Kissed Halloween Goodbye article and tagging me in it. (yes I too was a victim). Keep up the great writing. Don’t listen to the negative people, they are just wrong and can’t admit it. I have seen their responses on Facebook, and they sound like they just want someone to burn at the stake.

I think maybe you went a little too much with the humor. Most people who think that way don’t understand satire and would probably just be offended because they don’t like humor. But otherwise I agree with your points.

Yuriy and Inna are what the bible calls sheep in wolves clothing and what I like to call idiots. Not only do they make themselves look like fools by proclaiming to have knowledge and understanding of the Bible and God they are offering so called Christian advice on the same page as their mary-kay products.. I mean seriously, you have a website named after yourselves. If that isn’t a idol then I don’t know what is. You just started your journey in life, you don’t have the answers only God does.

I find it interesting that the whole point of making this article was to point out what Christians say really can make other Christians look bad as a whole. Or your other comment that us “silly Christians” make it impossible to bring non believers to church. Nonetheless the way this article was written in such a condemning, arrogant, let’s-all-make-a-fool-out-of-Blake, way that I was completely in shock. Blake’s opinion, which WAS merely only an opinion, was not anything to get confrontational about…she’s not writing a book and she’s not rewriting the bible. I’m not sure why people felt so offended by her article, I didn’t feel like she was telling me I’m a sinner or a satin worshiper if I did believe in Halloween. I saw it as a story of how God showed her that she needed to change her ways, how can you criticize that? And if there were people that were offended, I don’t think she deserved an article that’s all about bashing her.

You say some of the scriptures were taken out of context, but if we LITERALLY only applied the exact reasoning behind each scripture, we would rarely ever use scripture to apply it to our own life. People would say “oh that stuff was back in the old days, it doesn’t apply to our life” yet God wrote those words and verses for a reason and that’s to apply it to our life in the circumstances that we are in.

I just felt like this article condemns Christians even giving an opinion. Setting aside facts about back when Halloween originated and looking at today’s Halloween, the evil and gross things people either put on themselves or put in there front yard, how can anyone say this is pleasing in God’s eyes? Just by taking what I see, I know I don’t want to be a part of it NOT because I think the people that celebrate it are satin worshippers or sinners but because I know God says to stay away from evil, therefore, I know getting involved wouldn’t be pleasing in Gods eyes.

All in all, I could tell this article was very thought out and took a while to write. If only it did without the smart remarks, I would’ve taken it more seriously.

This post, and especially the responses, show the true nature and the dark side of religious zealots. I am sick and tired of reading the nasty and mean articles and responses.

Yes, this post is sarcastic and funny, and over the top, but it’s not filled with hate. Everyone else is filled with hate, yelling and arguing how much they hate this post. Everyone is arguing that Blake had an opinion, and Yuriy is so wrong for taking it to task, but then they call him names and act all emotional when he presents his opinion.

Some of these people are a joke, I am glad I left the church, this is proof of why I am scared to go back. You are a bunch of hypocrites and liars. I want nothing to do with you and your dumb view about religion. Yes, and God still loves me.

Its really sad that you spent so much time researching and writing an article that defends a holiday that glorifies Satan and everything evil. I hope one day God will open your eyes on the truth about what Halloween really is.

I dont know you people, but you sure go through a lot of trouble to prove to christians Halloween isnt all that bad. why do you have to defend it so much ? You must be really passionate about Halloween. Well…. hope you had a good one.

Halloween is a scam invented by dentists because candy equals cavities.
Okay not really

But seriously I was in it for the candy and dressing up stuff I never did anything EVIL and if people do evil stuff on that day well it’s their fault not some day that I thought was made to ward off evil spirits to begin with, like that thing were people dress up to scare off evil spirits and even if I’m wrong again it’s day for kids to get free sweets Jesus wouldn’t appreciate the legalistic viewpoints going on here.

But I’ve been losing my faith so maybe my view means squat

Good article I wouldn’t take anything that lady said about halloween seriously it’s just crazy the Bible is full of violence yet because Halloween has violence in it ie the movies that mean it’s bad I read all the Israel people who died for what I can guess is being stupid since they kept making the same mistake are their deaths not horrific?

Easter has the bunny, Christmas has Santa are we gonna ban those holidays?
Halloween is for candy when it comes to kids and fear for older people